Facial Fat Transfer in North Carolina

Although many dermal fillers can be used to fill sunken areas of the face from scars to deep wrinkles, plastic surgeons can also employ facial fat grafting techniques to treat some age-related depressions in the facial tissue.

What Is Facial Fat Grafting?

In addition to general facial contouring procedures, facial fat grafting can be used to correct:

Depressed scars

Thin lips

Hollow areas of skin

Laugh lines

Deep facial creases

In the facial fat grafting procedure, your plastic surgeon uses extra fatty tissue from your own body. Using a low-pressure syringe, fat is liposuctioned out of a harvest site on your body (sometimes the hips, thighs, buttocks or abdomen) and then injected into carefully chosen sites on your face to correct the issue.

Who Can Benefit?

In order to undergo this procedure, you should be a nonsmoker in good health and have realistic expectations about the likely outcome of your surgery. Fat grafting also requires an adequate amount of fatty tissue in a viable donor site.

The Facial Fat Grafting Procedure

After a donor site has been chosen, your plastic surgeon will harvest the necessary fatty tissue using a syringe or a small tube called a cannula. After the correct amount of fatty tissue has been removed, it will be prepared for injection. Using specialized techniques, your surgeon will inject the purified fat into the area of your face to be treated and then cover the injection site with a bandage. Sutures will be used to close the donor incision site.

Facial Fat Grafting Aftercare

After your facial fat grafting procedure, you should expect minor swelling, bruising or redness in both the donor and injection sites – discomfort may be managed with medication. The length of time varies for absorbtion of the transferred fat as well as for the length of time the results are visible. Many patients see results for 3-6 months, while other patients see results for a year or more.

Learn More About Facial Fat Grafting in Raleigh-Durham

To learn more about how the plastic surgeons at the UNC Aesthetic, Laser & Burn Center use fat grafting in facial rejuvenation, we encourage you to call for a consultation or join the mailing list to receive updates regarding events and specials.